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Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010"fake a type-A personality"
I read the advice to »fake a type-A personality« in the World Wide Web. I wonder how many English language readers might be able to understand what this means without any further explanation? The next sentence of the source offers something that gives an idea what the author of the text might think that a »type-A personality« is. I could give this later, but I do want to give this source now, as I just would like to know how/whether the expression is understood /without any context/. I also did a web search for this topic and found one other source with a similar expression, where a blogger writes »I can happily report that I have gotten better at (...) faking an alpha type personality«. And a comment on some web pages has »I can fake a pretty convincing A type personality«. (Other sources indicated that »A type personality« and »Alpha type personality« often are assumed to be the same notion.) > I read the advice to »fake a type-A personality« in the > World Wide Web. > > I wonder how many English language readers might be able > to understand what this means without any further explanation? The idea of personality types developed within the speciality of "personality psychology" that emerged in the 1930s or 1940s (viz. a branch of mental science different from behaviorism, Freudianism etc.) The concept was popularized in N. America by postwar books of social psychology (e.g. The Organization Man 1956) and has been taken up by scientific medicine (e.g. people of Type A personality are deemed to be more vulnerable to hypertension than others.) The idea is as well known in N.America as any other from prewar psychological science.  SignatureDon Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) > > I read the advice to »fake a type-A personality« in the > > World Wide Web. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > to hypertension than others.) The idea is as well known > in N.America as any other from prewar psychological science. Aldous Huxley, then, was ahead of his time. He did not, to my knowledge, use the term "Type A Personality", but I was just re- reading his 1923 novel /Antic Hay/: his protagonist, Gumbril, dons a fake beard and transforms himself from a weak-willed nebbish to "The Complete Man", a powerful and assertive conqueror of all who oppose his will. He even gets laid! I wonder if this novel is the inspiration for the quote in which (someone) said (something like) "If it's not about adultery in <insert some London-ish location here> then it's not considered a novel any more."? Jim Deutch (JimboCat) -- PS I'll defend that triple punctuation to the death! > . . . Aldous Huxley, then, was ahead of his time. He did not, to my > knowledge, use the term "Type A Personality", but I was just re- > reading his 1923 novel /Antic Hay/: his protagonist, Gumbril, dons a > fake beard and transforms himself from a weak-willed nebbish to "The > Complete Man", a powerful and assertive conqueror of all who oppose > his will. He even gets laid! Huxley seems not specially ahead of the professional psychologists. The "Bildungsroman" was well-established in English fiction by 1923, most obviously in H.G. Wells's books (The Card, Kipps, etc.) but Huxley is funnier. (For more on personality types, see Ernst Kretschmer in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Kretschmer, variously (1) ectomorph/endomorph (2) asthenic/athletic/pyknik (3) schizothymic/cyclothymic. Some of the technical terms from each of his (different) typologies seem to be still used. (I did not know, either, that being an unreconstructed Nazi seems not to have harmed his academic career.)) SignatureDon Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) > > I read the advice to ;fake a type-A personality+ in the > > World Wide Web. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > to hypertension than others.) The idea is as well known > in N.America as any other from prewar psychological science. I'd say that "Type A" is well-known, but not the general type system. Without looking it up, I couldn't tell you how many types there were, and what a "Type B" or any other type would represent. Brian SignatureDay 382 of the "no grouchy usenet posts" project > > > I read the advice to ;fake a type-A personality+ in the > > > World Wide Web. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Without looking it up, I couldn't tell you how many types there were, > and what a "Type B" or any other type would represent. It's just the two, really. People who aren't either are called "crossover" "type AB". Type B is basically the notional complement of type A--laid back, easygoing, relaxed, patient, mellow, lazy, indifferent, and apathetic could all be associated with type B personalities. > > I'd say that "Type A" is well-known, but not the general type > > system. Without looking it up, I couldn't tell you how many types [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > easygoing, relaxed, patient, mellow, lazy, indifferent, and apathetic > could all be associated with type B personalities. A lot of the people I know at work are what I consider the equivalent of the line soldier in the army. They're in the trenches, working hard and doing a good job, but aren't particularly ambitious. They don't want to be managers, or do big high-profile talks and presentations. They like more money, and don't mind promotions in a technical track. I call them (and by and large I include myself) "grunt engineers". I don't know how you'd classify them. Brian SignatureDay 382 of the "no grouchy usenet posts" project > I read the advice to »fake a type-A personality« in the > World Wide Web. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > »Alpha type personality« often are assumed to be the same > notion.) A Type A personality is one which is very driven, dominating and aggressive. I believe the term came into use ...decades ago! I must be getting old; I was going to write 'a few years ago', but it's much longer than that. Some psychiatrist or psychologist wrote a book about personality types and heart disease, and concluded that although Type As were often very successful in life, their attraction towards an immersion in a high-stress lifestyle made them susceptible to heart attacks, so they should learn to slow down and take life easy. An alpha personality is probably one similar to that of the alpha animal in a pack, eg the alpha wolf in a wolf pack. As with the Type A, there's the assumption that the personality is one with traits such as dominance and aggression. Both tend to be associated more with males than females, although the terms can be applied to females. SignatureCheryl > A Type A personality is one which is very driven, dominating and > aggressive. I believe the term came into use ...decades ago! I must > be getting old; I was going to write 'a few years ago', but it's > much longer than that. Some psychiatrist or psychologist wrote a > book about personality types and heart disease, Cardiologists. Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman wrote _Type A Behavior and Your Heart_ in 1974. > and concluded that although Type As were often very successful in > life, their attraction towards an immersion in a high-stress > lifestyle made them susceptible to heart attacks, so they should > learn to slow down and take life easy. SignatureEvan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------ HP Laboratories |The General Theorem of Usenet 1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |Information: If you really want to Palo Alto, CA 94304 |know the definitive answer, post |the wrong information, and wait for kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com |someone to come by and explain in (650)857-7572 |excruciating detail precisely how |wrong you are. http://www.kirshenbaum.net/ | Eric The Read Cheryl Perkins: > > A Type A personality is one which is very driven, dominating and > > aggressive. I believe the term came into use ...decades ago! ... > > Some psychiatrist or psychologist wrote a book about personality > > types and heart disease, Evan Kirshenbaum: > Cardiologists. Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman wrote _Type A Behavior > and Your Heart_ in 1974. Ah, right. And with that factual correction, I agree with everything Cheryl said. SignatureMark Brader "How diabolically clever: a straightforward message! Toronto Only a genius could have thought of that." msb@vex.net -- Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) 19 Feb 2010 12:06:40 GMT from Stefan Ram <ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de>: > I read the advice to »fake a type-A personality« in the > World Wide Web. > > I wonder how many English language readers might be able > to understand what this means without any further explanation? "Type A personality" is less common than it used to be, but it was part of popular culture for a while. But in popular culture it had a slightly pejorative tone, similar to but not as intense as "anal- retentive". When I see "fake a Type A personality", I wonder why on earth anyone would want to or would advise someone else to. SignatureStan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com Shikata ga nai... Stan Brown filted: >19 Feb 2010 12:06:40 GMT from Stefan Ram <ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de>: >> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >retentive". When I see "fake a Type A personality", I wonder why on >earth anyone would want to or would advise someone else to. The very phrase "type A personality" may mean different things in different cultures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_types_in_Japanese_culture ....r SignatureA pessimist sees the glass as half empty. An optometrist asks whether you see the glass more full like this?...or like this? > 19 Feb 2010 12:06:40 GMT from Stefan Ram <r...@zedat.fu-berlin.de>: > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > retentive". When I see "fake a Type A personality", I wonder why on > earth anyone would want to or would advise someone else to. Type A and type B are just different, neither one carried a necessarily pejorative connotation to me. There are both positive and negative traits associated with both. A type A person could be motivated, outgoing, and energetic, or could be overbearing, aggressive, and high strung. A type B person could be relaxed, patient, and laid-back, or could be lazy, apathetic, and indifferent. > 19 Feb 2010 12:06:40 GMT from Stefan Ram <ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de>: >> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > retentive". When I see "fake a Type A personality", I wonder why on > earth anyone would want to or would advise someone else to. Likely because they want to be seen as a go-getter, an aggressive and driven business person--highly effective though likely to work themselves into a heart attack. Perhaps they are applying for a job in sales. SignatureRoland Hutchinson He calls himself "the Garden State's leading violist da gamba," ... comparable to being ruler of an exceptionally small duchy. --Newark (NJ) Star Ledger ( http://tinyurl.com/RolandIsNJ ) >The next sentence of the source offers something that gives >an idea what the author of the text might think that a >»type-A personality« is. I could give this later, but I do >want to give this source now, as I just would like to know >how/whether the expression is understood /without any context/. Thanks for the replies so far! Now, the source I referred to: It gives a suggestion how to behave when a superior makes sexual comments, which you do not enjoy to hear: »One non-litigious method of keeping superiors from making crass comments in your presence is to fake a type-A personality. If you come across as all business all the time, offending colleagues will think of you as a nerd not worth including in their banter - no great loss in this case.« http://nymag.com/guides/2007/officelife/30012/index2.html The authors seem to believe that »type-A personality« is being an »all-business« nerd, I think of Spock or Data in »Star Trek«. But this does not seems to be what other sources call a »type-A personality«. 20 Feb 2010 22:49:00 GMT from Stefan Ram <ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de>: > »One non-litigious method of keeping superiors from > making crass comments in your presence is to fake a [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > But this does not seems to be what other > sources call a »type-A personality«. I think, as you do, that the authors have misused "Type A personality". A Type A person would be driven to win in every contest. To me, "faking a Type A personality", in that context, would mean pretending to be ready and eager to litigate over any perceived offense, however slight, and would be nearly opposite to the behavior that the authors recommend. SignatureStan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com Shikata ga nai... > 20 Feb 2010 22:49:00 GMT from Stefan Ram <r...@zedat.fu-berlin.de>: > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > perceived offense, however slight, and would be nearly opposite to > the behavior that the authors recommend. I think the idea is that a Type A person, being driven to succeed, thinks about nothing but work while at work, and thus won't participate in idle conversations that some coworkers like to turn to sexual topics. It wouldn't hurt if one suggests at the same time that one is also driven to win when involved in litigation. -- Jerry Friedman >> 20 Feb 2010 22:49:00 GMT from Stefan Ram <r...@zedat.fu-berlin.de>: >> [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > -- > Jerry Friedman But I would never think that a nerd had a Type A personality, as the original passage suggests! SignatureCheryl |
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